Back and front of marble frieze from a tomb in Kilwa (14th century). The marble was imported from Gujarat. The decoration is Hindu; so it might have originally belonged to a temple but the borders are inscribed with Koran verses. Gujarat marble was not only found in Kilwa (but also Mogadishu etc..) this shows the great influence of India.
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Hafiz Ibn Hajar al Asqalani (d1448) al - Durar al-Kamina
(a biographical dictionary of leading figures)
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Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani or Ibn Hajar Shihab al-Din Abu ‘l-Fadl Ahmad ibn Nur al-Din Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Hajar al-Asqalani al-Kinani) (b. Cairo 1372 – d. Cairo 1449 CE), was a classic Islamic scholar and polymath. He authored some 150 works on hadith, history, biography, tafsir, poetry, and Shafi'ite jurisprudence. Ibn Hajar went on to be appointed to the position of Egyptian chief-judge (Qadi). al-Durar al-Kamina – a biographical dictionary of leading figures of the eighth century. He gives some small anecdotes about East Africa not found elsewhere.
Taken from: The hidden pearls in the notables of the eighth century 1-3 with appendix, Part 3
الدرر الكامنة في أعيان المائة الثامنة 1-3 مع الذيل ج3
Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Maqdishi. (6) in al-shin dictionary.
He heard most of “Sahih Muslim”(7) from Ibn Abd al-Hadi (d.749/1348), and he narrated it. “I heard a little about it.” He was a good, virtuous, worshipper with a sound mind. His companions used to have fun with him and say: Oh, so-and-so. Pray for so-and-so, and he says: He is soft in judgment, and this increased in him, so they called him the judge of judges, and so they were. They call him a tease. He died on the twenty-sixth of the month of Rajab (19), and he was over eighty.
Taken from: Poona Orientalist 1943
The following is taken from a brief account of Sultan Mahammad, son of Tughluq Shah (AD 1324-1351)
.......his father, who, a Turk by origin, was one of the slaves of the emperor of India, his predecessor. He gradually rose to such power and position that he became emperor, and considerably extended his empire which included Sind (1), Makran (2) and Ma'bar (3) , so that the Khutba (4) was read in his name in Maqdsho, Sarandib (Sri Lanka) and the whole Islamic India.
Note: We have here a very important paragraph; Mogadishu is considered part of India. He is not the only Muslim author to do so.
To prove that the Kilwa marbles are from Gujarat an example from Cambay-Gujarat: the cenotaph of Umar al Kazaruni d
1333 AD. And right the mihrab of the Fakhr al Din mosque in Mogadishu.
Taken from; Lambourn: Mogadishu, Kilwa and the Corpus of Cambay Marble carving ; Azania 1999
The Kilwa panel may be compared with the cenotaph of Umar al Kazaruni d. AD 1333 even the programme of Quranic inscriptions is identical. The Kilwa panels were probably made for a large cenotaph. These have been manufactured in Cambay from the late 12- hundreds on.
The niche of the Fakhr al Din mosque very closely resembles the mihrab (dated Dhu al Qadah 726AH Sept- Oct 1326) of Khalis atiq Umar al-Kazaruni the freed slave of Umar al Kazaruni in Cambay. The Lar mihrab (trading town of Lar in southern Iran) only differs from the Mogadishu one in that the outer frame is executed in a different kind of stone(to Immerge the new generation in information) (d1448)
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Taken from: alwaraq.net
In the year 1393
And in it attended the messengers of the lord of Dahlak (5) and with him an elephant and a giraffe and other gifts.
About those who died in the year 802 AH (1400)
Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Maqdishi (6) He heard most (Hadith) of Sahih Muslim (7) and from Ibn ‘Abd al-Hadi [al-Hanbali] (d. 749/1348) and he transmitted from him. I have heard [Hadith] from him.
He was virtuous, worshipped Allah, clean of heart. He was virtuous, worshipped Allah, clean of heart. People tell him: Pray for so and so, he says: and hopefully let the justice be in power, the judges had all heard of him; he died on the sixth of the month of Rajab and was ninety.
(in the year 838) (1435)
In this year, an epidemic in the country of Yemen in the plains and mountains up to Sa'ada (7) and Sana'a (8), Coming from the country of the Berbers, and Abyssinia and Zinj.
Died in the year 836 AH (1432)
Ali ibn Yusuf ibn 'Umar ibn Anwar, the ruler of Mekdhoh of our time, is known as Muayad-bin-Muzaffar ibn Mansur. (9)
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Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani: Tabshir al-Muntabah bi
Tahrir al-Musytabih; (Bringing good tidings)
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Taken from: alwaraq.net
(This book classifies well-known people according to Clan name =nisba)
The Zinj by Fatah (10) al-Zai (11) and Sukun (12) al-Noon (13): The title of Muslim bin Khalid al-Zinji, Sheikh of al-Shafi’i, (14) was white and red, so he was nicknamed the Zinj.
And Abu Al-Hassan Ali bin Abi Bakr Muhammad Al-Zinji
And two glossaries: Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Qazzaz, He is known as a Zinj, This was reported by Al Ateeqi. ………………..
On the authority of Abu Bakr Al Hairi, and from him Ismail bin Abi Saleh the muezzin. He died in 428 AH and had the nisba(=clan) al-Zinj: From the villages of Gorgan (=Jorjan)(15).
Almekdmi: there are several.
Faqih Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Ali bin Abi Bakr Almekdci setting the pen, Al-Bathari’iyyah (Al-Bathari School), and called Almekdchaoui. (18)
Al-Dhahabi (16) said: Narrated by Ibn Aldkhamisi (17).
He said: It is attributed to Mekdhaop of the places belonging (or allied to) to the country of India.(18)
And Abu al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Isa al-Amiri Muflih Almekdci of Yemen, wrote about Zaki al Mundhiri (=cashew; also an Imam who wrote about Hadith)
And our sheikh, Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Muhammad bin Ahmed Shams [Al-Din] Al-Maqdishi (6), told us on the authority of Ibn Abdul-Hadi (d.749/1348), and he lived for ninety years.
Note: Clearly al-Asqalani knew there were two places called Makdashu: the one in India and the one in East Africa. (Here called from Yemen).
See : Information about Mogadishu being part of India.(1) Sind: now in Pakistan.
(2) Makran: Mekran or Mecran and Mokran, is the coastal region of Baluchistan (Pakistan).
(3) Ma'bar: the entire coastal zone of Indian state Tamilnadu (southeastern coast of India).
(4) Khutba: sermon
(5) Dahlak: island off the Eritrean coast.
(6) Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad Almekdci (1314-1400): also mentioned by: Muhammad al Fasi (1430); Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (1448); Al-Sakhawi (1497); al Maqrizi (1441); Abd al Basit ibn Khalil (1490). But it is unsure that al-Maqdishi stands for Mogadishu.
(7) Sahih Muslim is a 9th-century hadith collection and a book of sunnah compiled by the Persian scholar Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj (815–875).
(8) Sana'a: Capital of Yemen
(9) Ali ibn Yusuf ibn 'Umar ibn Anwar: this sultan of Mogadishu is mentioned in the Album Stephen list (see my webpage on Mogadishu Coins and Sultans.). This means he putted his name on the coins he had minted. Ibn Yusuf is also mentioned by Al-Sakhawi (1497); al Asqalani (d1448); Maqrizi (1441); Abd al Basit ibn Khalil (1490).
(10) Fatah: Fatha is the A vowel in Arabic.
(11) al-Zai: the Z letter of the Arab language.
(12) Sukun: is a circle-shaped diacritic placed above a letter that indicates that the consonant to which it is attached is not followed by a vowel.
(13) al-Noon: nun, the N letter of the Arab language.
(14) al-Shafi’i: Imam al-Shafi’i: Mohammed bin Idris Shafi'i: (767–820 CE) was an Arab Muslim theologian, writer, and scholar, who was the first contributor of the principles of Islamic jurisprudence. His legacy on juridical matters and teaching eventually led to the formation of Shafi'i school of fiqh.
(15) Gorgan (=Jorjan), formerly Astarabad, is the capital city of Golestan Province, Iran.
(16 )Al-Dhahabi: see my webpage al Dhahabi (1348).
(17) Kamal al-Din Ahmad b. Abi al-Fada’il b. Abi al-Majid al-Hamawi b. al-Dakhmisi, he died somewhere in India. (600/1204—671/1273).
(18) This is the Muhammad b. ‘Ali b. Abi Bakr, the Great Jurist, the scholar, Shams al-Din, al-Tamimi, al-Maqdishawi al-Shafi‘i (648/1250—718/1318). He is mentioned by al-Asqalani (1448); Al-Dhahabi (1348); Ibn Nasir al-Din (1438). This last author however mentions that he is from Mogadishu in the land of Zanzibar.
(19) Rajab: is the seventh month of the Islamic calendar.